5:1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry
much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my
brethren.

5:2 But behold, their anger did increase against
me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.

5:3 Yea, they did murmur against me, saying: Our
younger brother thinks to rule over us; and we have had
much trial because of him; wherefore, now let us slay
him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his
words. For behold, we will not have him to be our ruler;
for it belongs unto us, who are the elder brethren, to
rule over this people.

5:4 Now I do not write upon these plates all the
words which they murmured against me. But it sufficeth me
to say, that they did seek to take away my life.

5:5 And it came to pass that the Lord did warn me,
that I, Nephi, should depart from them and flee into the
wilderness, and all those who would go with me.

5:6 Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did
take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam,
mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph,
my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those
who would go with me. And all those who would go with me
were those who believed in the warnings and the
revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my
words.

5:7 And we did take our tents and whatsoever things
were possible for us, and did journey in the wilderness
for the space of many days. And after we had journeyed
for the space of many days we did pitch our tents.

5:8 And my people would that we should call the
name of the place Nephi; wherefore, we did call it Nephi.

5:9 And all those who were with me did take upon
them to call themselves the people of Nephi.

5:10 And we did observe to keep the judgments, and
the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all
things, according to the law of Moses.

5:11 And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper
exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again
in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds,
and animals of every kind.

No sheep, cattle or goats
existed in the New World until the arrival of the Spanish
Conquistadores. In addition, the Native Americans planted
crops that were indigenous to the Americas, not
transpalnted from the Old World.

5:12 And I, Nephi, had also brought the records
which were engraven upon the plates of brass; and also
the ball, or compass, which was
prepared for my father by the hand of the Lord, according
to that which is written.

5:13 And it came to pass that we began to prosper
exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.

5:14 And I, Nephi, did take the 1sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did
make many swords, lest by any means the people who were
now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us;
for I knew their hatred towards me and my children and
those who were called my people.

Topic: Anachronistic
Artifacts
There is no archaeological record of swords in
pre-Columbian America. Although metal swords were
well-known to the ancient Near-Eastern peoples (and are
frequently mentioned in the Bible), native weapons were
usually made from wood, stone or obsidian.

5:15 And I did teach my people to build buildings,
and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of
copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold,
and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great
abundance.

5:16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did
construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon
save it were not built of so many precious things; for
they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it
could not be built like unto Solomon's temple. But the
manner of the construction was like unto the temple of
Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly
fine.

There seems to be a
contradiction here. Nephi complains that the Temple was
unadorned because of a lack of "precious
things". However, in the preceeding verse, he
claimed that gold, silver and precious ores were in great
abundance.

In addition, it took many years and many
thousands of workmen to build Solomon's Temple. At this
point, there could not have been more than twenty people
to help Nephi build his Temple.

5:17 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my
people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands.

5:18 And it came to pass that they would that I
should be their king. But I, Nephi, was desirous that
they should have no king; nevertheless, I did for them
according to that which was in my power.

5:19 And behold, the words of the Lord had been
fulfilled unto my brethren, which he spake concerning
them, that I should be their ruler and their teacher.
Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher,
according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time
they sought to take away my life.

5:20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled
which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they
will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off
from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut
off from his presence.

5:21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon
them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their
iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts
against him, that they had become like unto a flint;
wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and
delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my
people the Lord God did cause a 1skin of blackness to come upon them.

[1] Joseph Smith obviously
carried his racist tendencies into the Book of Mormon.
Note how God is said to "curse" the unrighteous
with a black skin.

5:22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that
they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall
repent of their iniquities.

5:23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth
with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the
same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.

5:24 And because of their cursing which was upon
them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and
subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of
prey.

5:25 And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a
scourge unto thy seed, 1to stir them up in remembrance of me; and
inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto
my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.

5:26 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did
consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should be priests
and teachers over the land of my people.

Although Nephi has elsewhere
claimed that his people kept the whole law of Moses (I Nephi 4:15), we find that they
have built a Temple outside of Jerusalem, and ordained
priests from a tribe other than the Levites. Both of
these things were forbidden by the Mosaic Law.